Seventeen Years of Living Patiently

My sweet friend, Pamie passed away two years ago. For the fourteen years prior, the first thing she'd ask me after hellos and hugs was, "Have you got a kitchen yet?" Pamie was an amazing cook and baker. Dinner at her house was an event. She could never understand how I went so long with a less than functional kitchen. It's been one reason or another why my kitchen is still incomplete after over a decade and a half but here's the thing, there is a silver lining. The changes I wanted to do sixteen-seventeen years ago were radical. Gradually, over the years, I've modified what I want. No longer did I want to tear down, tear out, rebuild entirely. Instead, I was using the existing footprint. Only the fridge would be moved and that was just to the opposite wall so I would have more countertop space. The kitchen was L shaped and I decided that a galley design would be more efficient and could still be doable in the square footage I had. We bought flooring that never was installed and that's good because now they have a waterproof flooring that is attractive and easy to install. I bought a dishwasher (that my husband destroyed by accidentally spilling coffee in it on the mornings I left it ajar to speed up drying time), we bought a nice fridge (that stayed in storage for six months and then after we installed it, lasted another six until right after the warranty expired and then it died), we bought a gas range (even though we were still waiting to get a gas line to the house) and a range hood, both are still sitting unopened in our garage, sixteen years later! And you know what, that's okay because I want a different style now on all of these appliances and I figured out a way to fit the range, fridge and the cabinets that did back a bar and will now be up against the wall between the two, like ordinary cabinets. I've decided on a different counter type, different tile on the backsplash and no longer want to paint our wood cabinets but plan to strip and refinish instead. The new layout will not only be more efficient and allow for much more cabinet top to work off of but by putting the range and fridge on the same wall, it will be much simpler to run the water to the ice maker and to the pot filler faucet thingie (have no idea what you call that.) So, the seventeen year wait, has taught me patience but it's also brought me to a kitchen layout and design that will not only work better for me but more reflect us and our lifestyle. I know, most of you will feel like Pamie, how did she endure this? But it also taught me to be creative with my cooking. Still, I'm not a saint, I did do my share of complaining but in the end, once it's all done, I think I will be happy that I was forced to wait for my reward.

And I will post plenty of photos once it is finished....which I'm hoping now is soon. lol